Great white shark Lydia is ready to be released from the research platform

SARASOTA, Fla. - Scientists from Mote Marine Laboratory are working with a team of researchers who are tracking great white sharks. Researchers just returned from a trip where they tagging a 2,000 pound, 14-foot-long shark named Lydia on an expedition near Jacksonville.

Researchers captured Lydia aboard the research vessel OCEARCH on March 3rd and attached a motion sensor which will allow them to track her movements and behavior, and in turn give scientists more insight into these elusive creatures and their habits.

Lydia was also fitted with a satellite-linked tag as part of a tracking project.

“It's amazing how little we know. For instance, we knew white sharks were occasionally found along Florida's coastline, but one of the sharks we tagged in Cape Cod, Mary Lee, showed us not only do they come down to Florida but they actually can spend quite a bit of time cruising up down near shore, along the coast of Florida and further north into Jacksonville, Georgia area,” says Nick Whitney, Mote staff scientist.

Mote scientists used these same sensors for the first time in September 2013, tagging two mature great white sharks off Cape Cod.